


All Wark and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy

by NanakiBH



Category: Final Fantasy Type-0
Genre: Bestiality, Breeding, Chocobos, Depravity, Disturbing Fluff, Egg Laying, Eggpreg, Exhibitionism, Hurt/Comfort, Impregnation, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Mind Break, Multiple Orgasms, Nihilism, Other, Public Sex, Violent Thoughts, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Wet & Messy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:00:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24220240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanakiBH/pseuds/NanakiBH
Summary: Jack decides he needs a hobby and picks up Chocobo breeding.
Relationships: Chocobos/Jack
Kudos: 56
Collections: Season of Kink





	1. Chocobo

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of those things where I thought "If I don't write this, no one else will." So I wrote it. For me. 😋 (It's also for the "Places" square on my seasonofkink bingo card. I hadn't written anything for my card until now and I felt bad.)
> 
> The first chapter is the breeding kink. The second chapter is the egg-laying.

“Who thought that having free time could be so boring...”

For the first time in forever, there were no missions on the schedule. There was a mission in the western region that asked for voluntary participation, but they were looking for a three-cadet unit. Jack had taken a glance at the mission briefing and had automatically decided to pass. His techniques didn't have the kind of diversity the mission required. It sounded like something that would have been better left in the hands of the ones who used ranged weapons.

He brought the mission to King's attention and King took it from there, recruiting Trey and Ace to accompany him.

“Maybe I should learn how to use a gun...,” Jack muttered to himself.

He leaned heavily against the banister on the upper level that overlooked the academy's entrance, his eyes slowly going out of focus as he watched other students wander from their classrooms to the great portal at the center of the floor.

He didn't like fighting. When there was a mission looming on the calendar, he spent his time thinking about how much he didn't want to come face-to-face with any more of Milites's war machines. Sure, his blade could cut through steel, but he really didn't enjoy having to get that close to something that could step on him and crush him like a bug. It happened before! Mother brought him back, of course, and it seemed like she took care of his memory of the incident, but he still knew that it _happened._ Just the knowledge that he had, at one point in time, been _squashed_ was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

Still...

When there were no missions to get stressed out about, he actually kind of missed fighting. Like, a lot. It was kind of concerning.

The amount of time he spent practicing the sword wasn't small, so he had a lot of pride in his ability. He enjoyed putting his knowledge to use. That didn't... necessarily mean that he _enjoyed_ killing people...

Right?

Hm.

Deuce would've gotten mad at him if she knew that he was thinking things like that. She would've definitely said something like, _“Jack, I know you aren't like that!”_ She was so sweet. There was no doubt in his mind that she didn't find any enjoyment in harming others.

But the others, like, totally enjoyed killing people, right?

Maybe not Ace.

Rem and Machina also seemed like pacifists at heart.

But everybody else _totally_ had a sadistic streak. Even if they tried to deny it, he could tell. They were all freaks who got off on causing carnage. It was nothing to be ashamed of, honestly. They'd been trained to fight since they were young, so the typical Militesi soldier was no match for them. There was something satisfying about steamrolling the shit out of them.

Yeah...

“I need to stop thinking. I have a bad brain.”

He wasn't known for thinking, anyway. It wasn't one of his strong suits.

He needed to get a hobby or something. If they really managed to end the war, what was he going to do afterward? If he couldn't fight anymore, he wasn't going to have anything left, and then every day would be boring. He didn't want to look back and realize that the only excitement in his life came from killing people. That would've been real messed up.

But...

What else was there?

Suddenly, he couldn't remember anything he liked to do for fun. He liked sleeping, but that wasn't a hobby. Nobody would be impressed with him for taking a really good nap. The others seemed to have things they enjoyed doing in their spare time, so why didn't he have anything?

Music would've been nice. He liked music. It would've been fun to start a band with some of the guys or something, but Akademeia didn't have a band club where they could practice...

He liked porn...

“Ugh, people will think I'm a gross weirdo!!”

A couple students who came from the door behind him stopped to stare at him for a moment. He stared back. After an unbearably awkward moment, he cleared his throat and pretended to be the dignified Agito cadet he was supposed to be. The two quickly forgave his outburst, honored to be greeted by a member of Class Zero, and continued on their way.

“I don't want people to think I'm a weirdo,” he muttered to himself as he watched them leave down the stairs. “Maybe I should stop talking to myself...”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Jack stood for a moment, tapping his foot as he pondered in silence. For some reason, it was a lot easier to think when he talked to himself out loud. When his thoughts stayed in his head, they always ended up going in such weird, morbid directions...

So he started walking. People-watching was great and all, but it wasn't getting him anywhere. His feet aimlessly carried him down the stairs and toward the central portal.

He stopped just shy of stepping into the portal when he realized that he didn't know where he was going. If he didn't have anyplace in mind, the portal wouldn't take him anywhere.

“Oh...!”

An underclassman nearby flinched and let out a sound, startled by his sudden exclamation. Jack apologized to them and hastily stepped into the portal.

He emerged at the Chocobo ranch.

Chocobos were Ace's thing, but who was to say that they couldn't become his thing, too?

Before their last mission, he wrangled at least a dozen Chocobos he found roaming around outside the academy. The ranchers had asked them to bring back any Chocobos they found, and Jack was more than happy to follow through on that request – especially after he watched one get attacked and eaten by a Great Tauricorn. After that, he rounded up all the ones he found roaming near the area where the Tauricorns did their hunting.

They were scrawny little things... The ones around Akademeia weren't very fast or strong. Jack could tell that the ranchers weren't exactly impressed by them, but he told them about what he saw, and they ended up sympathizing with him. He hoped that the Akademeia ranchers would be able to beef them up to at least make them suitable for riding if not battle.

He didn't like the thought of making them stronger just so they could be sent out into a battle to die, though...

They were an effective mode of transportation, but Milites had _magitek._ Chocobos were just large birds. There was no comparison between them and Milites's machinery. Unlike him, if the Chocobos died in battle, they couldn't come back. He kind of wanted to discourage the Rubrum army from using Chocobos in battle altogether...

He had to hurry up and put an end to the war. For the Chocobos!

Yeah...!

Once the war was over, he could help raise them. Breeding didn't sound half-bad, either. From what he learned already, it seemed like if he provided the ranchers with different kinds of Chocobos, they could crossbreed them to produce stronger, faster offspring. Ideally, they could breed a whole bunch of really strong Chocobos and then release them back into the wild to mate with wild Chocobos. Eventually, the wild Chocobos would be able to defend themselves against monsters like the Tauricorns.

It was an ingenious idea!

“Heh. Sometimes I can be so smart~”

Jack stepped forward and a few baby Chocochicks scurried from the stables to happily welcome his return to the ranch. He noticed that O'bane wasn't there to greet him like she usually was, though. He missed hearing the sweet tang of her voice... She was a cutie. She wore one of those infantry masks, but... He could tell she was cute.

“Hey, I'm back!”

He waved, expecting the breeder, Hishow, to emerge from one of the stables to say hello and give him the usual update on the Chocobos, but after a few moments of silence, Jack realized that Hishow was a no-show.

He walked through the stables to the other side, and the Chocochicks followed behind him like they thought he was their mommy. Tsubasa, the rancher who kept an eye on the Chocobos in the pen, also wasn't there.

“Where is everybody? Is there a Chocobo conference happening somewhere right now that I don't know about?”

Well. They were students just like him. Classes were over for the day, but they could've been studying. He may have been allergic to the library, but other students weren't. If they needed somebody to keep an eye on the Chocobos for them while they were away, they could've just asked. He would've been happy to help. Since he had nothing better to do, Jack decided that he might as well stay and keep the birds company until the ranchers returned.

He wandered back to the stables where a few of the Chocobos he wrangled were waiting.

A quick glance told him that none of them had laid eggs, but their behavior did seem a little strange. A few of the birds looked agitated, shifting around in their pens and warking in a way that almost sounded like they were injured.

“Uh... Hey, buddy... Are you okay in there?”

He leaned over the trough at the front of one of the pens and reached out a hand toward the Chocobo inside. As soon as it noticed him, it ruffled its feathers and hastily came over, nearly knocking him backwards when it thrust its head toward him.

“Whoa! Careful!” It startled him, but he couldn't help but laugh as it ticklishly nuzzled its head against his chest. As it made warbling noises, he could feel the vibrations from its throat. “Hey... How're you doing? You happy to see me? Did you recognize me?”

Man, the ranchers were keeping the secret to happiness all to themselves. There was something so precious about being recognized by a Chocobo.

The two Chocobos in the pens on either side of the one he was petting started to make a fuss, however. Feathers started to fly as they fought for his attention. One of them even leaned over and nearly bit him.

“Hey!” He wagged a finger at it – which almost got snipped off. “Watch it! Listen to me! You better behave yourselves or I'm gonna leave!”

Huh. It actually seemed like they understood him. They must have learned a thing or two from Hishow. Once they heard his commanding tone, they started to calm down – but not by much. He could tell that there was still something agitating them.

The last time he was there, Hishow asked him if he would like to name the Chocobos himself. He'd wrangled quite a few, so that seemed like it would've taken some thought. Sadly, by the time he returned, he still hadn't thought of that many names. He thought he was creative, but maybe he wasn't as creative as he thought... All he could think of were lame names like Choco or Boko. That was as bad as naming a dog 'Poochy'.

He glanced down at the nameplates in front of the troughs and realized that one of the ranchers had written something for each of them.

“Oh... Well, that saves me the trouble.”

The one in front of him was...

“ _Choco?!_ Seriously?! But that's so obvious! Hishow, I'm gonna need to have a word with you...”

The one next to it was apparently dubbed 'Shadow.' At a glance, it didn't look like a 'Shadow' to Jack, but it did feel like it had an intimidating type of energy...

Then the one on Choco's other side was called 'Gilgamesh.'

“Like the Lorican l'Cie? Alright.”

Choco was the one with the friendliest name which was appropriate because it also seemed like the friendliest bird of the three. It kept trying to nuzzle its head against his chest as it shuffled in its pen, trying ever so hard to get closer despite the divider keeping them apart. If it wanted out that badly, Jack felt like it wouldn't have hurt to let it out to roam for a while, so he leaned down to release the locks on the side of the divider, and...

He got a bit of an eyeful.

“Oh! Uhm...!”

He looked away, shielding his eyes. It was just a Chocobo, though. It wasn't the same as violating a person's dignity... So he lowered his hands from his eyes and allowed himself another glance.

Truth be told, he'd never wondered about what Chocobos had going on down there. He just assumed that when the Chocobo breeders did their thing, the eggs would magically appear after a period of time. That obviously wasn't how it worked. If he aspired to become a Chocobo breeder himself, then he had to face the reality that Chocobos... had sex.

“Wait, why are you getting excited? I'm not a female Chocobo, you silly bird!”

The Chocochicks around his feet didn't seem to think so, though. Maybe their attention was what was confusing the male Chocobos, giving them the mistaken impression that he was actually an experienced female Chocobo. Or maybe it was mating season or something. The ranchers would've had the answer, but they weren't there.

“If I let you out, you aren't going to try any funny business, are you...?”

Choco backed away a little and let out a happy wark.

Skeptical, Jack kept an eye on him as he carefully released the lock.

As soon as the divider was down, Choco rushed out of the pen and headbutted Jack in the chest, sending him straight to the ground. He yelled, half-afraid that the large bird was going to step on him or something, but it seemed like it wasn't looking for a fight. No, on the contrary, it really did seem to think he was some kind of potential mate. As soon as he started to push himself up, it pressed him back down and tried to sneak its beak under the hem of his summer uniform shirt.

Frozen in surprise, he just watched for a moment as the Chocobo clumsily tried to... undress him?

When it realized that it was incapable of undressing him with just its beak, it warked and flapped its wings in frustration.

Jack laughed under his breath, bewildered but amused by its antics.

“I get it... You're just a guy like any other, huh? It must be hard to get off when you only have wings. Can't do it by yourself. I bet there are some females around here who might be interested, but... I don't think Hishow would appreciate it if I let you do whatever you want.”

He reached out and patted Choco on the beak. In return, Choco gave him the saddest, most desperate look.

Agh, it was so hard to resist a face like that...

But what was he supposed to do? Let it fuck him?

Before the thought even crossed his mind, he was already half-hard.

“Am I supposed to just accept my fate as a weirdo...?”

Choco gave a sympathetic kweh.

“Yeah. Guess so.” He gave it another pat on the beak. “One second, bud.”

If he was seriously going to follow through on the risky thought, then he had to be quick about it. He had no idea when the ranchers would return. If they caught him _doing weird sex stuff with a Chocobo_ , they would definitely ban him from the ranch. He didn't mean any harm, but he knew what a normal person would think. He wasn't delusional. He totally knew how it would look to somebody else.

And yet. He had to follow through on it. Because life was short and unforgiving. Why not do something weird with a Chocobo?

Even if they caught him, they could ban him from the ranch, but they could never get him kicked out of the academy. He couldn't even imagine what he could get kicked out for. It seemed like Mother would defend them through pretty much anything.

He didn't like the thought of the class finding out... But the majority of them already didn't respect him, so whatever.

He left Choco for a moment to go looking through the stable's supplies. After some rummaging, he actually found what he was looking for – an industrial-sized bottle of lubricating gel. He figured that they needed to keep something like that on hand for breeding purposes.

For some reason, the Chocochicks were still following him.

“Guys, please. Can you, uh... Can you go somewhere else for now? The adults have adult business to take care of.” Gently, he shooed them away into one of the open pens. They were too small to be held back by the divider, though. Even when he got them inside, they just came scuttling back out to play with him.

“Wait, I know...!”

Jack returned to the supplies and grabbed a fistful of greens. He tossed them into the pen and the Chocochicks stayed there, distracted by the feast.

Finally, he was able to return to Choco. By then, the other two who had been vying for his attention had grown even more aggressive and were struggling against the dividers. Those wild Chocobos may not have been very strong, but they were probably stronger than a couple pieces of wood. What was he supposed to do when they got like that? He didn't want them to break the stable. Greens probably wouldn't have been enough to placate them...

Unsure of what other choice he had, Jack decided to release them. If they posed a serious threat to his safety, he could always summon his blade and then tell the ranchers that the Chocobos went berserk and attacked him.

Ugh, he didn't want to hurt them...

He crossed his fingers and prayed that they would behave.

When he released Shadow and Gilgamesh, they immediately turned on each other in an attempt to assert dominance.

“Boys! Boys! Calm down! There's enough Jack for everyone!” he cried, intervening to separate them, nearly getting pecked to pieces in the process.

To his surprise, Choco came to his rescue, wedging between the other two to buck them away. After a brief scuffle of gnashing beaks and flying feathers, the three came to some kind of understanding and seemed to settle down. It appeared that Choco had emerged as the alpha Chocobo. Jack felt strangely thankful about that, seeing as how Choco was the one who also seemed the gentlest.

Choco proudly returned to him with his chest feathers puffed out, clearly presenting to him like he was trying to impress him.

“Y-yeah, very good. Thank you, Choco.”

He reached out and ran his hand through Choco's chest feathers, finding them surprisingly soft and fluffy. Since nobody was looking, he leaned in and rubbed his face against Choco's chest and giggled to himself at how cozy and soft he was. Just like a feather pillow~ He wondered if Ace had ever had the pleasure of cuddling a Chocobo's exquisite chest fluff.

Better question, he wondered if Ace had ever taken things further with a Chocobo...

Probably not. Ace was too much of a goody two-shoes. His moral compass would've never allowed it, even if the thought crossed his mind.

His loss. Jack didn't have that kind of compass.

“Follow me, Choco~” He gave the bird a little scratch under the chin and led him back into his pen. There was more than enough room for him and the Chocobo. It would have been easier to do it outside, but he didn't want to risk being seen. If he heard someone enter from the portal, then he could quickly separate himself from his feathered friend or simply hide.

Shadow and Gilgamesh stood around outside of the pen, already queued up and waiting for their turn. Just seeing the way that they were suddenly acting so patient as if their turn was assured made Jack feel unexpectedly excited. Without his consent, they'd decided that he was going to be their mate.

They were just Chocobos, but their watchful stares made Jack feel self-conscious as he started removing his clothes. Or maybe he was just nervous about undressing in a public place. Or it was a combination of the two. Either way, the nerves were doing nothing to hinder his arousal. He was definitely still getting off on the strangeness of the situation.

There was just something erotic about taking his clothes off in a place where he ran the risk of being seen by other people. It wasn't the first time for him. He'd undressed in the classroom one time and jerked himself off behind the podium at the front of the class. For a week, he couldn't sit through a lecture without getting a little hard, thinking about how they were having class in the same place where he'd gotten off.

By the time Jack got all his clothes off, he was fully hard. He probably could've jerked off and been satisfied with just his imagination, but he couldn't let himself stop halfway after he already decided that he'd go the distance.

He left his clothes in a pile in the hay, then moved to retrieve the bottle of lubricating gel he'd set down on the ground. Choco was quite well-endowed, but there was definitely going to be more than enough lube for everyone. He had to start with himself first if he seriously planned on taking something _that_ big, though.

As soon as he braced himself against the back wall of the pen and started fingering himself, Choco came up behind him and nudged his beak where his fingers were.

“No, Choco. You gotta give me a second~”

Choco warked and the other two warbled, sounding like they were getting a little less patient.

Curious about what Choco was up to, Jack moved his hand away for a second and let the Chocobo sniff around. It seemed like it was just interested in scenting him. Once it was satisfied, it backed away and ruffled its feathers.

“O-okay, then...”

Eidolons... He was so aroused, he felt like he could have accidentally made himself come if he kept his fingers inside himself for a second too long. Closing his eyes, he just tried to focus on preparing himself and made it quick.

Putting a generous glob of gel in his palm, he knelt and was surprised when Choco instinctively moved himself toward his hand. The hefty Chocobo cock slid right into his palm. Jack suddenly didn't know what he'd been expecting. It felt surprisingly warm and firm. The tip was tapered to a sharp point.

As he stroked his hand along the shaft, coating it with gel, he stroked the Chocobo's chest and belly.

“Don't worry, Choco. I won't try to get away~ You can have your kweh with me~ Heheh... You get it? Kweh~”

The Chocobo enjoyed his humor, giving an amused-sounding _kweh_ of its own. Or maybe it was just ready to get down to business.

Propping his elbows over the wooden bar that divided that pen from one of the adjacent pens, Jack lifted his backside and wiggled his hips. He didn't even have to tell Choco what to do. Nor did he have the time for any second thoughts. In the next second, Choco was already in position and aiming his cock toward his lubed entrance. It missed at first and slid up along his back. It came close, though, grazing over his entrance.

Jack reached underneath himself and helped guide it toward its target. Once he had it in position, Choco bucked and its pointed cock pierced right into him, giving him more than he'd bargained for right off the bat. It was too much, too soon – enough to make Jack yell out half in surprise and half in fear for his insides. It just went in so quickly, seemingly without any resistance, he thought that something might have gone wrong. But it didn't hurt.

Breathing heavily, feeling dizzy, he looked back. Choco had already started to move. There didn't seem to be any blood between them...

“Really? Guess I'm stronger than I realized...”

It was a learning experience. The pointed, spear-like shape of a Chocobo's cock seemed to be for getting inside quickly. Chocobos were flighty things, after all. Mating in the wild was probably a precarious task, so they had to be quick about it.

Thankfully, Choco slowed things down once he realized that his mate wasn't going anywhere.

The shape of its cock let it enter him easily, but that didn't change the fact that its cock was _humungous,_ both in length and girth. With each buck of its hips, Jack felt his walls tightly squeezing around its length. The lubricant definitely helped, but there was only so much it could do against something that massive. He was going to be sore for sure.

Once he was sure its cock wasn't going to kill him, he was finally able to calm down and relax a little. He crossed his arms over the wooden divider and pillowed his head on his arms, letting out a sigh. He didn't even have to touch himself. He'd already been on the edge. Between the thrill of the situation and the feeling of that massive cock plunging impossibly deep into him, he knew that he wasn't going to last long.

He couldn't keep himself still. Choco's rhythm unconsciously made him want to move along with him. His hips started moving, rocking back to meet each thrust.

“Does that feel good, Choco?” he asked, picking up his head to look back at his bird. Choco's eyes were closed, but he had a pleased sort of expression on his face. Jack wondered if the ranchers ever bothered to make the Chocobos feel that good when they were breeding them. Probably not. It made him sad to think that it would possibly be the first and last time Choco would know what it was like to have sex with a partner who wanted to please him.

Normal people probably didn't have thoughts like that...

He didn't know why he still cared about being 'normal.'

“I'm going to become a Chocobo,” he declared, giving Choco a grin. “The more you fuck me, the more I'm turning into a Chocobo~ I'm going to be your mate from today forward~”

Choco made a happy noise and leaned down over him to nuzzle his head against Jack's cheek.

“Do you understand what I'm saying?” He laughed and reached up to tenderly stroke its beak. “You're so sweet...”

It felt so good...

He got the feeling that he was never going to be able to have regular sex ever again. Nobody had ever made him feel like that. Sex with a person couldn't even compare. That incredible cock and the pure love of a Chocobo... That was bliss.

“Ch-Choco... I'm gonna come... You're gonna make me come~”

With each thrust, he felt Choco's soft belly feathers dusting his lower back. It already felt a bit warm in the stables when Jack got there, but things had heated up considerably while he was underneath his Chocobo's warm fluff. His back was starting to sweat, and Choco's feathers were starting to stick to him. By the time they were through, he was going to end up looking like a Chocobo, too.

The heat was also starting to get to his head. He was glad he was holding onto the bar between the pens, otherwise he was afraid he would have collapsed. His knees were starting to quiver and shake with the effort to hold himself up as he endured Choco's thorough thrusts. He could swear it felt like Choco's entire cock was inside of him, all the way to the base. It felt unreal... He didn't even want to think about how many inches it was. Imagining every inch of that monstrous length inside of him made his head spin and his cock ache.

“C-coming... Choco...!”

His eyes squeezed shut as his climax overwhelmed him. Clinging to the divider, his mouth opened in a voiceless shout as his vision went white, as his insides squeezed around the giant cock inside of him. His cock twitched, shooting cum messily across the hay under them.

Of course, it was far from over. Before he could get away to help Choco finish with his hand, the Chocobo was already coming inside him. Its cock pulsed, pouring loads of hot, thick cum deep inside before slowly pulling out. As Choco pulled out, a stream of cum gushed out and poured down Jack's thighs. He tried to flex the muscles of his entrance, but his used hole was too weak to push any more of it out.

When Choco retreated to rest outside the pen, Shadow pushed its way past him to enter the pen. The intimidating bird scratched at the ground with its talons and reared back, showing him its cock. Jack's face went pale when he saw that it was even thicker than Choco's. He wasn't sure he was ready for round two, but apparently he had no choice in the matter. Shadow wasn't going to wait another second. It immediately pushed itself up against his back and used its heavy weight to pin him against the bar between the pens.

“Shadow, wait! I-... I haven't even-...!”

He hadn't even lubricated it yet.

He was scared to think about what was going to happen without proper lubrication. His heart was pounding in his throat. Tears stung the corners of his eyes as he started to shake.

Thankfully, it didn't last long. Shadow treated the exchange like business. It inserted its cock, kept its weight heavily against him, stayed still, and pumped its cum into him until it was finished.

As soon as it pulled out, Jack collapsed to his knees. Seeing Gilgamesh already on his way into the pen, Jack scrambled backwards and groped around blindly in the hay for the discarded bottle of lubricant. As soon as his fingers found it, he dove to retrieve it and quickly uncapped the top.

Gilgamesh didn't seem threatening like Shadow, but he also didn't radiate kindness like Choco. He was a big-boned bird who moved clumsily. There was something kind of goofy about him, but that made him seem sweet in his own way. Jack had worried that he'd force himself upon him like Shadow had, but that didn't seem like it was going to be the case. Gilgamesh hovered over him and tilted his head with a confused _waaark_.

“It's okay... Come here... Carefully, now...”

Jack held out a hand with some gel in it, and Gilgamesh lumbered toward him in two big steps. Its heavy cock flopped into his hand. Jack couldn't help but laugh. Laughing felt like a relief after his intense encounter with Shadow.

He used both hands and moved them up and down its length to make sure it was fully coated. For a second, he considered giving himself some more as well, but...

He glanced down.

Cum was still leaking out.

With a sigh, he put the lubricant aside and tried to make himself comfortable in the hay. His body felt so weak, he didn't think he could stand up and take another pounding. Hopefully Gilgamesh could come down and meet him in the hay.

The big boy was eager enough to try. He bent his knees and lowed himself over Jack.

Putting his hands under his thighs, Jack pulled his legs back and tried to angle his hips upward, exposing his hole. A fire ignited in the pit of his stomach when he saw just how wide they'd made him. A thick layer of white cum was visible from the surface, but as he kept his hips angled, he felt the hot fluids rolling back inside and coursing through his belly. He tossed his head back and moaned out loud, his cock getting hard again at the unexpectedly arousing feeling.

Maybe the Chocobo pheromones were getting to him...

Gilgamesh's cock sunk right into him and pushed the others' cum into him even deeper. Whimpers and other helpless sounds escaped from Jack's mouth as the Chocobo unsteadily bucked and thrust its cock in and out. It seemed like his noises might've made Gilgamesh think that he was injured; it started nuzzling him and making throaty warbles in an attempt to calm him. Jack reached out and held onto the back of his neck, loosely clutching his feathers.

At the back of his mind, the thought of being discovered was still a possible threat, but it was sooo far in the back of his mind, it barely mattered. Even if someone showed up, he couldn't imagine stopping. He felt exhausted, pushed to his absolute limit, but it felt so incredible, he almost never wanted it to end. Shadow might have spooked him, but he had the feeling that with a little bit of training, even Shadow could become a courteous mate like Choco and Gilgamesh.

The thought of doing it with them again was too much to take. He'd tried to promise himself that it would just be that one time, but a promise like that was hard to keep when he was already barreling down the slippery slope.

“Oh, Gilgamesh, it feels so good~ Nngh-...!” He stroked his hand across its cheek and it leaned in to press their foreheads together, making a warm rumble in the back of its throat. “Nn... Wark~ Wark waark~”

Was he losing his mind? Had he snapped?

The answer: Probably.

With each wild thrust, he was becoming a wild animal. The Chocobos were officially more tame than he was. He didn't even qualify as a human being anymore, and that was okay. Animals seemed a lot happier than people, anyway. Life could be painful and unfair in the wild, but at least animals didn't build weapons capable of destroying continents. Animals were enlightened.

He put his arms around Gilgamesh's neck and held him a little tighter.

“I don't want to be a person anymore, Gilgamesh,” he muttered, lips quivering. “I don't want to be Jack anymore.”

He just wanted that unbelievable, forbidden pleasure to overwhelm him like a tidal wave and carry him away to some other plane of existence. For some reason, at the peak of ecstasy, he felt like that could have been possible. There had to be another world out there where he could live that freely every single day, where the constant threat of war didn't exist, where he could always feel safe and happy.

“Nnn...”

Breathing heavily, Jack glanced down and placed a hand over his lower stomach. With each thrust, he felt the bulge of the Chocobo's large cock hitting his palm. Precum dripped from the tip of his cock onto his stomach. It was so hot underneath Gilgamesh, he was starting to feel delirious. The air he was breathing in felt thick, almost enough to make him choke. He had to be on the verge of passing out...

Dizzy, he wrapped his fingers around his cock and started to pump his fist, rolling his head back into the soft hay. The sounds Gilgamesh was making were starting to sound more worked-up. Anticipating another load of cum from his feathered partner, Jack's stomach muscles unconsciously started to tense up. Before he knew it, he was coming, his insides involuntarily spasming, causing Gilgamesh to ejaculate as well.

He kept working his hand around himself, biting his lower lip, his eyes squeezed shut. It felt like the longest orgasm of his life. It might've had something to do with the deprivation of oxygen he was experiencing on the floor of the pen. Even once he was spent, he couldn't stop moving his hand. It was like he was possessed, seeking every last ounce of pleasure he could find.

After Gilgamesh pulled out, he let out a huff from his nose and leaned down. Jack weakly lifted his head and blearily watched as Gilgamesh dragged his tongue over his entrance, giving their combined fluids a taste. He stood back up, proudly puffing out his chest with a _waaark!_

That seemed to be the last of it... His Chocobos looked satisfied.

Shadow had already returned to his pen and was calmly standing by as if nothing had happened. Once Gilgamesh left the pen, Choco returned and trotted to the back. He settled down behind Jack, offering up his side as a place for him to rest his head. Jack happily obliged, scooting back a little to lay his head against Choco's warm side.

He kept his legs pulled back, his knees toward his head. He didn't know why, but he felt compelled... He let out a hot breath, the embers of arousal simmering in his lower belly as he thought about all of the cum that was still inside of him.

Swallowing, he reached down and cautiously felt around his entrance. It was still open wide, stretched from the intense size of their cocks. He slowly dipped his fingers in and felt them sink into their thick cum.

“I wonder if I'm going to have your eggs now,” he laughed.

Choco fluffed his feathers and made a sound in agreement.

“Hm... I wish I could. Maybe if I focus really hard, I can make it happen.” He reached back with one hand and patted Choco on the beak. “Don't worry, I'll take care of myself. We don't have any missions lined up, so I'll just relax and eat a lot to make sure your babies grow nice and healthy~”

Content with the amount of time he'd held his legs back, he let them down and winced at the amount of cum that came pouring out. It wasn't all of it, but it was still a lot. He knew that it was impossible for him to get pregnant with Chocobo eggs, but he couldn't help but imagine... If he actually did, he wondered how many eggs there would be. Choco was the one who took him first, so he probably would've been the one who had the best chance of fertilizing him... But Shadow was really dominant, so maybe his seed was heavier...

“W-what am I thinking?”

He tried to laugh it off, but his heart was pounding.

“I-I better get going... We did really good, but if I stay any longer, somebody's definitely going to catch me.”

All of his limbs felt sore. He struggled to roll himself over. When he managed to push himself up onto his knees, he crawled over to his clothes and started putting them on piece by piece. He used a rag that was hanging over one of the pen dividers to wipe down his thighs... But there was still cum leaking out from inside. Suddenly feeling more worried that someone would be coming, he hastily made a decision. The rag was small enough, so he folded it up and pressed the end of it into himself to plug it up. He felt ridiculous, but he'd take it out as soon as he returned to the dorm and was able to clean up.

Apart from the redness in his face and the fact that he smelled like a Chocobo, he thought he looked normal.

Before leaving, he returned to Choco and gave him a peck on the beak.

He found Gilgamesh wandering outside of his pen and guided him back to where he belonged. Before he closed him in, he also gave him a quick kiss and a pat on the head.

And Shadow...

They exchanged eye contact. That was enough.

On the way back to the dorm, Jack received as many stares as he thought he would from all the students who could smell him coming. He avoided looking at anyone and hurried his way to the showers. It took at least a half an hour to get the cum out, and he still wasn't totally convinced he'd gotten all of it at the point that he decided to turn off the shower.

By the time he was sitting on his bed, toweling his hair, he didn't feel as strange as he thought he would about everything that had happened.

As soon as he laid down, he fell asleep and had one of the most restful sleeps of his life.


	2. Egg

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk about you, but I love the Type-0 NPCs.

**One week later...**

Jack did as he promised Choco. After what happened at the ranch, he spent a lot of time in his room just relaxing. He didn't feel the same kind of overwhelming boredom he felt before. Suddenly, he just felt content. When he needed to, he left his room to get food and then he'd return to the warmth of his bed to eat. It amused him to think that it was becoming like his nest.

However...

After two days of lazy feasting, he noticed that he'd put on some weight. The weight seemed to be concentrated around his lower stomach, but there was something strange about it. It didn't seem to be fat. When he pressed on it with his hands, he felt something firm. At first, he worried that something he'd eaten might have gotten stuck, but he was able to keep the worry from occupying his thoughts. Between his cozy bed and his little stockpile of food, the thought totally slipped from his mind, and he didn't think about it at all until a week later when the situation had suddenly grown to a proportion that he was no longer able to ignore.

His stomach had gotten suspiciously round – and painful.

The most rational thoughts were somehow the farthest from his mind. All he could think about were his Chocobos.

He knew... It had to be their eggs.

Incredibly. Unbelievably. _Somehow._

Jack didn't know what to do. As the pain grew intense, he completely lost the ability to even think about it. He just felt like collapsing on the floor and crying. But if it was for real... If he was really going to have their eggs, he didn't want to have them in his dorm room in such a pitiful, lonely way. He wanted to be at the ranch with them nearby.

The ranchers would probably be there...

The fact that they hadn't been there the last time was a fluke. The thought of explaining the situation didn't excite him, but he could deal with the embarrassment in exchange for their help with delivering the eggs. He didn't have to give them the whole truth. If push came to shove, he thought he could make something up.

Tugging on the hem of his shirt, he made sure that his belly was covered and tried to wrap his arms around himself to obscure it further. The large bulge in his stomach was probably still noticeable, but he hoped that it would keep some people from seeing or at least make them question what they saw. Down in the main hall, he received a few looks, but most of the students seemed too preoccupied with their own business to even notice him.

He practically dove for the great portal and took it to the Chocobo ranch.

“Oh, howdy, darlin'!” O'bane cheerfully greeted him as soon as he emerged from the portal. Her face was obscured by her mask, but he saw the way her smile faltered when she noticed that there was something wrong. “Uhm... Jack, hon', are you feelin' alright? I see you're holdin' yer tummy...”

“I, uh...”

He was sweating. His vision was swimming. He felt nauseous.

She came around and put a hand on his shoulder to gently guide him away from the portal.

“H-Hishow! Tsubasa! Can y'all come over here real quick? I think somethin's wrong with our buddy!”

Hishow and Tsubasa arrived quickly. O'bane stepped aside and let them have a look. Jack was anxious to see their reactions, but their faces were also being hidden by masks. He just wanted one of them to look him in the eyes and tell him it was okay...

“Is this-... Um... This isn't some kind of tumor is it?” Tsubasa said. “What happened?”

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He thought he would've been able to make something up, but he suddenly felt like he couldn't lie to them. There was nothing that could explain it but the truth. He was scared.

“Should I call for Dr. Al-Rashia?” Hishow asked.

“No!”

He wasn't sure why, but he absolutely didn't want them to get her involved. She was their Mother... She'd always supported them, going out of her way to protect and defend them. Jack knew that she loved them, but her love felt selfish to him somehow. He felt too sick to sort out the confusing thoughts in his head. All he knew was that... he couldn't trust her with the safety of _his_ children.

Jack struggled to shake his head.

“No... Please. Don't get anyone else involved. Let her be a last resort.”

“R-right...” Hishow sounded uncertain, but he acquiesced. “You look like you're in a lotta pain right now. I've seen that kind of pain before. Are you... pregnant?”

“You... aren't surprised?” Jack asked, his breaths labored.

Hishow smiled gently and helped guide him toward the stables. “Hey, I know that there are all kinds of people, just like there are all kinds of Chocobos. Of course there are guys who can get pregnant.”

Jack whined, feeling misunderstood. “No, it's not like that. I, uhm... It's...”

In a moment of clarity, he grabbed Hishow's hand and placed it against his lower stomach to let him feel the unusual firmness there.

Hishow was quiet for a moment, stunned into apparent silence.

“...Eggs?”

“What?” Tsubasa said. He shouldered his way around Hishow and also placed his hand on Jack's stomach. When he groped and felt the familiar firmness, he echoed Hishow's surprise. “Eggs...”

“Y'all, what's goin' on?” O'bane asked.

“It's an emergency delivery,” Hishow told her. “Sorry, but... This one is guys-only. Would you mind keepin' an eye on the portal for us? If anyone tries to come through, tell them that the ranch is off-limits right now.”

She still seemed a bit confused, but she didn't question them. She just nodded and quickly returned to the entrance to guard the portal.

With Hishow supporting him under one arm and Tsubasa holding him under the other, Jack was led into one of the open pens where they laid him down on the hay. As Tsubasa ran to retrieve the supplies they'd need, Hishow kept him company and explained a little about what they would normally do when a Chocobo was laying eggs. All in all, it sounded like they didn't need to do much besides make sure that there were no complications for the Chocobo and to make sure that the eggs were delivered safely and kept warm.

“When it comes to the egg-laying, the bird does most of the work,” he said, keeping a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder. “Getting the Chocobos to breed is the hard part for us. When it comes time for the eggs, it's just nature. I know it must seem really hard right now, but try to focus on how simple it actually is. It hurts because the eggs wanna come out. Just keep calm and let them come out at their pace.”

Jack took in a deep breath, feeling somewhat more relaxed already despite the severe pain.

“You really believe me...?”

Hishow smiled awkwardly. “Y'all from Class Zero are extraordinary – of course I believe it. I'm just not gonna ask how it happened. I have some ideas, but that's your business, so I'm not gonna think about it. I can't speak for the others, but I'm fascinated to see what these eggs are gonna be like. I know I told you to help me with the breeding, but, uh... I didn't expect you to help like _this._ ”

“I thought you said you weren't going to think about it!” Jack groaned, hiding his face with his hands.

“I-I'm not! I'm shutting my brain off right now.”

A moment later, Tsubasa returned, carrying a bucket in his hand and a stack of towels under his arm. He set down the bucket and came around behind Jack to position the stack of towels under his head like a pillow.

“Sorry,” he said. “We don't have any pillows here. I hope you don't mind.”

“Better than nothing,” Jack said. He tried to give him a lighthearted laugh, but it turned into a groan instead.

As if in response to the sound of his pain, Jack heard the concerned sound of a Chocobo's warble. He picked up his head and looked into the adjacent pen to find a Chocobo peeking under the divider at them.

“Oh! Choco!”

“Oh, he's one of the birds you wrangled,” Hishow recalled. “What, would you like him here for emotional support?”

Jack nodded emphatically, but he kept his lips sealed to prevent himself from saying more than necessary. They didn't need to know just how well-acquainted he and Choco were. He suspected that Hishow had already figured out how he'd ended up in his position, but he didn't need to know which Chocobos were responsible.

Tsubasa went to Choco's pen, and as soon as it was opened, Choco dashed out and hurriedly squeezed himself into the pen with them. He settled down right behind Jack like he had the week before, letting him use his soft, feathered side as a pillow to replace the uncomfortable stack of towels. As soon as Jack sunk into his feathers, he immediately felt a difference in himself. Placing his hands over his round stomach, he slowly let out a breath and closed his eyes, becoming more relaxed despite the pain.

Tsubasa coughed.

“I hate to bother you when you look so comfortable, but you know that you won't be able to, uh, lay the eggs if you still have your pants on, right?”

Oh.

Yeah... That was why they told O'bane to wait at the entrance...

Jack didn't feel self-conscious about his body. Nudity wasn't a thing that bothered him. However, he couldn't predict what sort of reactions his body would have under such strange circumstances, so he felt a little afraid of embarrassing himself in front of them. Then again, things were probably embarrassing enough already. It was already assured that they were never going to see him the same way again, anyway.

“O-okay, fine,” Jack nervously said.

Before he could even attempt to take his pants off, Tsubasa was already kneeling down to help him. It made Jack feel like a child, but he appreciated the help. The pain had settled down a little since he started resting against Choco, so he didn't want to move and risk bringing it back into full swing. All he had to do was lift his hips a little so Tsubasa could tug his pants down.

He closed his eyes and turned his head aside, feeling his face burning with embarrassment. If the situation had been sexual, he wouldn't have felt any shame. He just felt... vulnerable. He knew that they weren't going to hurt him or make fun of him, but it was kind of scary all the same.

“I feel like something's coming,” Jack whined, squeezing his eyes tight.

Maybe it was an egg. Maybe it was something else. If it was _something else_ , then he was going to just phase right out of reality and leave the mortal plane. His soul would exit his body.

“Oh. It really is an egg.”

Huh?

“You can see something already?” Jack asked.

Jack sat up without thinking and groaned at the painful tightness in his lower belly. A new wave of nausea swept over him and he had to lay back and keep himself still until it passed. He wanted to see what Tsubasa was seeing, but he didn't want to move if it was going to make him throw up.

He cracked open an eye and saw Tsubasa nod his head.

“Yeah. I can see the white shell. Just a little bit, though. Just stay calm and try to push if you can. Don't push yourself too hard.”

Choco craned his head down and nudged Jack's cheek gently with his beak as if to give him encouragement.

Trusting in them both, Jack tried to push. It felt like it wasn't doing anything, but Tsubasa seemed to think it was working – he told him to keep it up, so Jack did. Soon enough, he actually felt the egg as it started to breech the surface.

“This is always the hardest part,” Hishow said, stroking the loose strands of Jack's hair away from his face. “Trust me, once you get it about halfway, it'll just pop right out. Eggs are smooth, so there's nothin' to hold it back at that point. You're doing great.”

“Are you sure?” Jack asked shakily, sweating. The pain was starting to ramp up again. “I-it feels like it's trying to pull my insides out with it.”

“Well...”

Jack glared at Tsubasa. “ _Well?_ What do you mean by _'well'?_ Are my insides going to be outsides?!”

The muscles around his entrance tensed and it felt like it actually made the egg travel back up, erasing some of the progress he'd made. But if it mean his insides wouldn't get pulled out, then he felt like he would've rather kept the eggs inside of him, as irrational as that seemed.

“S-Sorry! I didn't mean to make you panic,” Tsubasa said. “You'll be okay, I promise. It might seem scary to you, but it isn't out of the ordinary to us. If something seems wrong, we'll handle it right away.”

“Is egg-laying always this hard...? Is this what the Chocobos are always going through? Have we been making them suffer?”

“It gets easier after the first time,” Hishow said.

After that, Jack tried his best to relax. Even though it felt like the egg was trying to pull him inside-out, he tried not to think about it and just focused on persistently pushing. Occasionally, he forgot to breathe and Hishow was there to remind him. Feeling the vibrations of Choco's warbles against the back of his neck helped to ease his dizziness and soothed him into an almost trance-like state. There was just the sound of the Chocobos, his own breathing, and the encouraging words of the two ranchers.

“And... There it is,” Tsubasa said.

Jack felt the first egg slip out and fall into the hay. Tsubasa carefully picked it up and brought it closer for him to see it.

“It's really an egg...,” Jack said, amazed. He knew it was going to be an egg, but it didn't feel real until he saw it with his own eyes. “It's so small... Is it okay? Is there really something inside?”

“It is a lot smaller than a Chocobo egg,” Tsubasa said. He pardoned himself for a moment and went outside the pen with the egg so he could look at it in the sun. Jack anxiously waited for him to return, unsure of how he'd feel if Tsubasa came back and told him that the egg was empty. However, the smile he saw on Tsubasa's face when he returned made him feel relieved. “It's tiny, but there sure is a chick in there. We gotta keep this little guy warm.”

Jack wanted to reach for it, to warm it himself, but he was afraid of hurting it. “Would one of the Chocobos here be willing to sit on it?”

“I reckon it'd be safe with one of them,” Hishow said, “but I don't think we should risk it. We'll put it in an incubator. We'll observe it regularly. I hope you don't mind if we document the progress. This is an unprecedented occurrence.”

Brow furrowing, Jack glanced aside, biting his lip. “I don't mind, but could you keep that information to yourselves? Please don't share it with Akademeia.”

The ranchers looked sort of confused by his request, but they agreed. Like many other students, their loyalty to Class Zero went above their loyalty to the academy. Jack felt like he'd probably accumulated a lot of bad karma in his life, so he felt truly honored to receive their kindness when it felt like he hadn't earned it. He trusted them more than the academy.

After wrapping the egg in one of the towels, Tsubasa wet a rag and used it to gently wipe the sweat from Jack's face. The cold water felt good against his flushed skin. He had to try not to think too hard, otherwise he was afraid he could have gotten excited from their tender treatment of him. He was still suffering some seriously excruciating pain, but it was also one of the loveliest moments he'd experienced in his life. No one had ever taken care of him like that, even Mother.

Maybe there were some good people in the world, after all...

“I think the next one's coming... Ngh-... H-how many of them are there going to be?”

Hishow chuckled nervously. “You've seen how many eggs the birds can lay, haven't ya? It can be a few, or it can be a whole lot. You never know 'til ya know.”

Jack grasped around for something to hold onto and found Tsubasa's hand. The rancher sounded a little surprised at first, but he quickly squeezed his hand and reassuringly placed his other hand over their joined hands. Distantly, Jack wondered if O'bane was getting distressed by the sounds she was hearing from the stables. It must have sounded like he was dying.

After a few more agonizing minutes, the second egg arrived.

It continued that way for what felt like hours. It could've been. Eventually, he lost his sense of time as he slipped in and out of consciousness. The ranchers made sure to keep him hydrated, and Tsubasa even brought over a fan at the point that they realized that they were going to be there for a while.

After the first two eggs, thing seemed to become a little easier. They were indeed in a hurry to escape into the outside world.

In the end, there were seven of them – a lot more than Jack expected.

“Am I... alive?” Jack mumbled with his eyes closed, barely conscious. He wasn't that worried about dying, seeing as how he could always be brought back to life, but he'd been concerned about the eggs. If he was going to die, then he wanted to make sure that he at least lived for long enough to deliver them.

“Yep. You're still among the world of the living,” Hishow said. “If you'd like, you're welcome to stay here to rest. I wouldn't feel right sendin' you back to your dorm room right after all that.”

Choco warked and Jack looked up at him with a tired smile. As soon as he noticed the ranchers staring at him, he quickly averted his eyes, hoping they hadn't realized what type of relationship he had with Choco. It was probably plainly obvious, though...

“I think Choco wants to see the eggs,” Jack said. In truth, he wanted to see them just as much. He knew that they had to be placed in an incubator, but he wanted to hold them, if only for a little while.

Tsubasa picked up the towel they were bundled in and carefully lowered them into Jack's awaiting arms. With a blush on his face, he also took one of the towels and modestly placed it over Jack's waist. It probably wasn't the right time, so Jack simply made a note to himself to ask the two of them out on a date sometime. If they could sit there for hours, watching him give birth to _Chocobo eggs_ without judging him or showing even a hint of disgust, then they were the kind of people he wouldn't have minded spending time with.

“Choco, look...”

They were so small... They were bigger than a chicken egg, but they were also a lot smaller than the average Chocobo egg. He could only imagine that the Chocobos that would hatch from them would be adorable, toy-sized birdies. If they couldn't grow into the size of a regular Chocobo, then they wouldn't be suitable for riding. They were probably going to be better off as pets, but... It felt strange to think of them as pets. Technically, weren't they his children...?

Tsubasa knelt at his side and lifted his mask a little to look at him. “Hey... You look kind of sad. Is everything alright?”

“Y-yeah,” Jack said, his voice cracking, making him sound unconvincing. “It's just... I'm worried about what's going to happen to them after they hatch...”

“That's up to you,” Hishow said. “They're welcome to stay here. We've got the space for 'em. They're yours, so we won't be releasing them or letting anyone else near them without your word. They're your babies, after all.”

Jack's eyes widened a little when he heard that word.

His babies...

Hishow said that about any of the eggs their Chocobos laid. Hishow already thought of those eggs as their children, even if they weren't their literal, biological children. It really showed just how much he cared about them.

Jack just nodded, getting choked up as tears came to his eyes.

Choco spread out one of his wings and placed it around him in what Jack understood to be a hug. Although he was still exhausted, he tried to turn around enough to give Choco a hug with one arm, still holding the eggs in the other. As soon as he felt the softness of Choco's feathers against his cheek, his eyes slipped closed and he almost fell asleep.

He tried to sit up to keep himself awake, but the sudden strain it put on his midsection made him shout in pain. He may have managed to lay the eggs, but his insides still felt abused.

“Hold still. I'll cast Cure,” Hishow said, positioning a hand over Jack's middle.

Jack bonelessly laid back against Choco and just breathed as Hishow worked his magic. In moments, he felt relief come over him, though he could tell that things still weren't completely back to normal. It was probably going to take some time before he knew what normal was again.

“You guys...,” Jack said softly, looking at Hishow and Tsubasa. He turned his gaze to the eggs with a smile, feeling something warm in his chest. He looked back up. “Thank you. Forreal. I don't know what to say besides... thank you. When I felt that it was time for the eggs, I wasn't scared about being hurt, and I wasn't even scared of dying. I just didn't want to be alone. I know how weird this was, but...” He sniffled, trying to hold back tears, overwhelmed with emotion. “You were so patient and accommodating...”

Hishow removed his mask and pushed back his hood, letting Jack see his face for the first time.

“Well, yeah,” he said. “It's cuz you've always been so nice. Maybe we ain't been close 'til now, but I can tell yer a swell person, Jack.”

“H-huh...?”

Tsubasa also took off his mask. Like Hishow, he had gentle, compassionate eyes.

“He's right,” Tsubasa said. “You wrangled all those Chocobos to keep 'em safe, didn't you? Anybody who cares about Chocobos that much is a good guy in my book. Whenever you stop by, you've always got a smile on your face. When I see that smile...” Blushing, he rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away with a faint smile of his own. “Y'see, I just can't help but smile when I see that smile o' yours. I can tell, you're the kind of guy who wants to make other folks happy.”

“That's really nice of you to say, but... I'm-... I can't be a good person.” His voice became quieter as he looked at the eggs in his arms, so small and vulnerable. “I've killed so many people. I can't remember any of their faces, and I don't even feel bad about it... Unless I end the war, I shouldn't be allowed to feel this happy...”

He thought that if they heard him plainly spell out the truth of things, then they would understand how awful he was, but... His words didn't appear to unsettle them at all. Hishow's brows were pulled together and there was a slight frown on his face, almost like he was pitying him. Jack didn't like being pitied. That was part of the reason why he always smiled, so that no one would have to see the unpleasant things he was hiding underneath.

“That doesn't sound like something a bad guy would say,” Tsubasa said.

Choco warked.

“The bird agrees,” Hishow said, his expression instantly becoming brighter.

Jack's heart sped up. His feelings were so confused.

“I guess-...” He held the eggs a little closer, protectively. “I'm just not used to opening up to anyone... I have a lot of things I keep to myself.”

Tsubasa nodded understandingly. “Class Zero has the hardest job. It must feel like the weight of Orience's future rests on your shoulders, but don't forget that we're here. It's our job to support you, and we're happy to do it.”

Ah...

Really, they were too nice...

They believed in him more than he believed in himself.

A tear fell and landed on one of the eggs. It rolled down the side and Jack quickly wiped it away with his thumb before drying his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He had to keep smiling – for the ranchers, the Chocobos, and for the little ones. More than ever, he felt it was his responsibility to create a world where everyone could be happy. He'd do anything to accomplish that modest dream.

Hishow and Tsubasa carefully received the eggs from him and left to take them to the incubator. As he watched them leave the pen, Jack rested back against Choco's side and tilted his head back to look up at him. He didn't mind letting Choco see the tears that still lingered in his eyes.

As his eyes began to close, hazy memories from a dream or vague visions of the future fluttered behind his eyelids. When he tried to grasp for them, they flew away from his reach, leaving only an ambiguous feeling in his heart.

He decided that it was a sign of hope.

“Choco, maybe things will be different this time...”


End file.
